


The weird gift

by Olivehouis, Tainamoniques



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26721487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olivehouis/pseuds/Olivehouis, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tainamoniques/pseuds/Tainamoniques
Summary: It has become a habit for foxes to spend all Christmass together. In recent years, these moments have become important for everyone in the group. And that includes Kevin and Aaron, who are keeping a relationship a secret. However, during the night, too much of a personal gift is mistakenly given to one of them and is enough to bring many confessions to the surface.
Relationships: Allison Reynolds/Renee Walker (All For The Game), Kevin Day & Andrew Minyard, Kevin Day & David Wymack, Kevin Day & Neil Josten, Kevin Day & The Foxes (All For The Game), Kevin Day/Aaron Minyard, Matt Boyd/Danielle "Dan" Wilds, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Nicky Hemmick/Erik Klose
Comments: 1
Kudos: 37





	The weird gift

**Author's Note:**

> Translation of my own text.
> 
> Link:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703625

That first Christmas we spent with the formation of the 9 foxes, everything was a mess. Andrew hospitalized and Neil with the Ravens. The rest of the foxes divided. The following year, even with other people involved in the team, Allison, Renee and Dan wanted to create new memories about this date and decided that we should spend Christmas together. In other words, 9 of us from the previous year, plus what can be called “support and extension” of the team - that is, my father, Abby and Besty.

In all these years, the “adults” and guardians participated only in the moment of dinner, leaving as soon as it was finished. Then we enjoyed it in a way that only foxes could do. As we started to feel more and more comfortable with each other, there were games and even some couples being formed.

Couples like Neil and Andrew gradually showed themselves closer and let the others get closer to them. Renee and Allison, at one of those Christmases together, broke the news that they were in a relationship. Matt and Dan told us when they decided to get married.

These were really fun days and we always spent the holiday in a house in the country, much to the delight of Neil - who seems to feel safe in places like this. For Neil, Christmas became a time to be with the family, which is why we always try to be together.

Unlike previous years, now Christmas will be different.

Andrew and Neil are living together and almost everyone insisted that Christmas should be celebrated at their home.

Unfortunately, I would not be able to participate due to the obligations with the team I signed. They want their players to participate in a charity dinner just on the day that Christmas will be celebrated by the team, which is, in this case, the night of December 24th.

Almost everyone on the team calmly accepted that I couldn't participate, but that I would arrive at the end of the 25th to see those who would still be at Andrew and Neil's. Only two people who didn't like it very much: my father and Aaron Minyard.

There is not much to explain about my father. We've been trying to establish a relationship since he learned he's my dad, and holidays are important dates that we try to keep - especially after I graduated and joined the professional league.

As for Aaron… that's what makes things complicated.

We have a relationship and have kept it a secret for the past two years. It started when I was still in college. Next to my departure from the team, he was drunk and found the courage to declare himself to me. I, euphoric with the news, did the only thing I could think of: I kissed him.

My first year in the professional league was complicated. Although I am a famous name in the sport, I had to dedicate myself a lot to achieve the prominence I had in the university league. There was little time off the court, and although I love the sport, I was always away from the person I love.

Aaron, in his last school year, understood my routine and never tried to charge me more time or dedication. Only I knew how difficult the distance was for him, because it was difficult for me too.

So he graduated and we didn't need to have sneaky encounters every time I went to Palmetto. Since his graduation, he visits me whenever he gets free time and I do the same on days without games.

In this way, we managed to keep our relationship a secret.

I don't know if any of our friends would be against it. I don't know, either, why we keep it a secret. Dan and Matt are together. Andrew and Neil date. Nicky has Erik. Even Allison and Renee have found love and are happy together. Why couldn't we both make it clear what we feel?

But I wanted, even though I was hiding, to spend this holiday with my boyfriend.

I spent weeks trying to get rid of the obligation to go to the charity dinner. I argued with everyone I could and justified that I needed to be with my family. I appealed to the importance of my name in the sport and how much I make to the team annually. I may not be the captain of the team, but it is very obvious that I am the most important to them. When I was with the Ravens and even the foxes, I didn't mind showing how important I was to others. But today, I don't like doing that anymore.

Except that spending that day with Aaron and the family we created with the team, was much more important than any benefit dinner that came up.

I appealed to everyone I had access to, without letting any of the foxes know. I didn't want to give my boyfriend hope about my possible presence at dinner, and I kept it a secret even when they called me on December 23 to say that I had managed to be released from the charity dinner.

Right after the call with that news, I got a call from Aaron. He wanted to know if I could spend the days after Christmas with him, since on Christmas Eve we would be apart for the first time since the relationship started. I don't know exactly how the idea came about, but I didn't tell him that I would be able to attend the fox dinner. I decided to surprise him.

His Christmas gifts were already purchased and they just need to pack them. I would be able to kiss my boyfriend on Christmas Eve and make him happy, even if it was in secret. So I texted Andrew to let him know that I was going to his house in time for dinner. He doesn't respond, but this is normal.

So I decide to pack my suitcase and prepare my boyfriend's gifts. As soon as daybreak dawns, I will take the road to get there before him at his brother's house.

I'm going to give Aaron two gifts. One is for him to open in front of everyone (just like everyone else will receive a gift - Allison's idea that everyone should give a gift for everyone) and another for him to open when he is just with me. I place the two presents in boxes of the same size, and use the same wrapping paper in them. In order not to get confused at the time, I write down his name on top of the one he should open in public, and leave the other one without any information.

The next morning, I call him as soon as I wake up and complain about how much I want to be with him and how boring this benefit dinner will be. He laughs and says that everything is fine, that he will see me the next night and that afterwards we will spend a few days isolated from the world, enjoying only the two of us.

When I arrive at Andrew and Neil's, there is no one but them. They prepare a coffee and we talk about how it is on the team that each of us plays. We are the only ones who continued our professional life, and we usually meet more than the other foxes, since we even play against them at times. I think it's cool that whenever they can, Neil or Andrew follow each other's games. For them, being a couple was never a problem in their professional careers, because they didn't let it be.

After breakfast, I put the presents under the tree and then hide Aaron's other present in the room where he and I will share (not that we are really going to share a room, but in it we will leave our things. Whenever we are all foxes together, hardly any of us sleep).

Andrew finds me in the bedroom and holds a gift in his hands. He throws it at me and I instinctively catch it before it hits my face.

\- Your gift from me and Neil.

He then leaves the room. Alone, I open the package and look strange when I see a T-shirt.

It is black, with the print of a Siamese cat. There is a speech bubble above the cat's head and it says "I am very horny for you".

I look in the direction Andrew left and then stare at the phrase on the shirt. That was the phrase Aaron said to me, drunk, before I kissed him the first time.

How could Andrew know that?

I leave the shirt in my suitcase and go to the kitchen. Andrew and Neil are talking quietly as they prepare something for lunch. When they heard me coming, they both saw each other. They wear matching shirts. Both are black, with the design of a fox with a speech bubble above his head. The T-shirt says "That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t blow you.”

I want to ask what that means, but I'm also afraid of the answer that may come.

\- Aren't you going to use yours? - Neil asks, laughing.

\- I must?

\- Of course. I had this idea and Andrew agreed. Everyone will win a personalized T-shirt.

\- I want to know what the phrases mean in them? - I lean on the island in their kitchen. Andrew puts his hands in his pockets and looks at me. This is your standard answer to many things.

Neil, on the other hand, smiles at the courtship in an embarrassed way.

\- You'll find out later, when everyone has their shirts.

I nod and decide to drop the subject.

After lunch and bathing, I wear the T-shirt under a jacket.

Aaron sent me a message saying that he would soon arrive at his brother's house and asking how the dinner arrangements were with the team. I responded by saying that they were tired and that I wanted to be with him.

As the foxes arrive, they receive personalized t-shirts from the hosts. Allison and Renee receive a cute puppy print written "I would save you from a zombie attack."

Dan and Matt, when they arrive, receive theirs. They have the print of a very cute white wolf, with the phrase "When you date in college, you have to enjoy every moment of the empty dormitory".

I started to realize that the phrases could represent something that was said by one of them at some point in the relationship. Renee and Allison's is just cute, which indicates that Andrew chose it. His friendship with Renee prevents him from exposing anything about their relationship. Dan and Matt's phrase is something they took literally during their college years, which Neil was also advised at the beginning of their relationship.

Nicky and Erik's T-shirt was the best we saw, and the most emotional. Nicky cried when he saw and hugged Neil. Andrew, more to the side, just watched while his cousin put on the black T-shirt, with an ice cream print. The ice cream ball has the colors of the rainbow. And the phrase on the couple's shirt is "The closet is dusty and I have rhinitis."

Yes. These two have excelled in creativity.

\- You remembered the story! - Nicky yells at his cousin, while hugging her husband. Andrew shrugs and Nicky turns to us, intending to explain. - When I met Erik, I asked if his family knew he was gay and his answer was just the phrase on my shirt.

He celebrates, all excited.

So, with that, it confirms for me the theory that each shirt is a phrase that represents the couple. To be honest, I don't want to know the meaning or the context of Andrew and Neil's sentence. And nobody asked about mine. Which is very good, and I still haven't had the opportunity or the courage to ask Andrew how he knows.

But it's Andrew. He's an observer. Hardly anything would pass him by. I don't know how I deluded myself for so long believing that he wouldn't know that I'm in a relationship with his brother.

\- Now that we know the meaning of the phrase of the two, it's time for you to explain what the story is there - Allison smiles at Andrew and Neil, who are standing next to each other. Neil takes the boyfriend's hand and smiles at him. Andrew, being Andrew, rolls his eyes, but smiles slightly at his boyfriend.

Everyone present starts to complain that they need to explain, but neither of them says anything.

The noise of the arrival of a car makes Andrew shrug, and with that ends the subject "they".

Furthermore, the noise of a car indicates that Aaron has arrived. He's not the only one missing, but my dad, Betsy and Abby will come just moments before dinner time.

I didn't try to hide my car by parking it away from the house, so even before it gets out of the car, Aaron must know that I'm here.

Nicky hurries and opens the door to receive his cousin. He faces everyone as soon as he crosses the door, and fixes his gaze on me. His expression is surprised and I want to laugh at that.

\- Hi - Aaron has his hands in his leather jacket pockets.

\- I'll help you get your bag in the car - Andrew offers.

\- You don't have to. Kevin, come help me. - He then turns around and walks over to the car. I hurry to follow him. When I get to his car, Aaron has the trunk open and waiting for me to help him remove the two suitcases and bags with gifts for the foxes.

\- Hi. - I smile at him, who just looks at me in surprise. He says nothing, and after making sure we get everything, closes the trunk of the car and sets the alarm. - Come on follow me.

I enter the house and everyone has dispersed, going to the kitchen to help prepare dinner or to arrange gifts under the tree. I head towards the room where my things are and Aaron closes the door as soon as he enters after me.

\- You.

\- Me - I smiled.

I sit on the bed and watch him put his things on the floor. Aaron puts his hands in his jacket pockets again - something he does when he's nervous.

\- Why are you here?

\- Because I wanted to be with my boyfriend. - I speak softly. He smiles, walks over and puts his arms around my neck.

\- Your boyfriend really liked the surprise.

\- And I really enjoyed seeing my boyfriend.

Aaron brings his face close to mine, and when he's almost kissing me, he pulls away and looks at me seriously.

\- Damn it, Day. I always knew that you were an insensitive person, but I couldn't imagine how much. And your charity event?

I take a deep breath and close my eyes.

I preferred a kiss rather than talking about a team dinner. But not everything is as planned, I know that.

\- I participate in one of these at least once a month. - I smile, teasing my boyfriend. - Could it be that this time I didn't deserve a rest from all this and a night to enjoy my family?

Aaron shrugs and curls my hair around his fingers.

\- I think - he looks at me as he approaches his face with mine - that you have every right. And I missed you.

He smiles and kisses me.

Noises in the corridor near the door of the room we are in, makes the kiss something very quick and little used. Not enough for the weeks we spent away from each other.

\- We have to go back there with the others. - Aaron holds my hand and stays that way until we get to the door, where he then takes the bag with the presents, takes one of the packages out of it and winks at me. It must be my gift. He puts it in his suitcase and after that, we leave the room.

I help organize the presents under the tree, which is now full of presents.

The following hours pass very quickly, mainly due to the preparation of dinner and the arrival of others. I talk to my father about the teams - both mine and his - and then about how I am, how my home is doing and if I need him to visit me more often. Who knew David Wymack would become a caring and present father in his son's life.

During dinner, I managed to sit between my father and Aaron. Under the table, I hold my boyfriend's hand several times, as well as I support my hand on his thigh and he supports yours on mine. In recent years, things like that have become common between the two of us and no one has ever noticed.

However, I realize that today Andrew is looking at us more closely than usual. Aaron, unaware that his brother knows about us, doesn't notice anything.

After dinner, we all go to the living room, where we sit on sofas and on the floor. There are glasses of wine in everyone's hands and the fireplace is lit.

Allison and Renee are the first to deliver the gifts, followed by my father, Abby and Betsy. Nicky and Erik amuse everyone with the gifts they bought. Andrew and Neil, who gave the t-shirts to everyone, just give Aaron a gift. Andrew looks at me at that moment, and I realize that at some point his brother will receive a T-shirt just like mine. As I'm wearing a jacket, Aaron hasn't seen the pattern yet.

Aaron delivers his gifts, and the last one to receive something is me. When I open the package, it is a plush exy racket. I look at Aaron, who shrugs and smiles.

\- You are so junkie. Most of the times I saw you, you had a racket in your hand. I thought it would be appropriate.

Everyone starts laughing, including me.

I thought it was cute.

I will definitely leave it in my room, next to the bed. Next to the picture frame with a photo of the two of us.

Dan and Matt deliver their gifts, so just me is missing.

When I deliver all my presents, there is a package left under the tree and I imagine that it is Aaron's shirt that matches mine.

I watch as everyone opens their presents, but Nicky's scream catches my attention. He's looking at what Aaron won.

Aaron blushes very quickly and Nicky continues to laugh out loud.

Everyone was curious about the reason for this.

\- What did you get from Kevin? - Allison asks, curious.

Without even blinking, Aaron gives an answer.

\- A personalized vibrator. - As soon as he answers, Aaron looks at me, realizing that he may have said too much.

I throw myself back, falling flat on the living room carpet.

Damn it.

I got confused with the gift packages.

This was for him to have received when we were alone.

He can't read the note he has with him!

\- A note came, - Allison shouts cheerfully, bringing out more humiliation for me. - “Use it whenever you miss me. K.”

Everyone is silent in the room, until a laugh escapes my father.

I look at Aaron, who remains extremely red.

\- It was just a joke, - I say, trying to alleviate the situation.

Andrew gets up from the chair he was sharing with Neil and picks up the package that had been under the tree. He throws it towards his brother.

Aaron opens the package and holds a T-shirt just like mine. Andrew then approaches me and unzips my jacket, so that everyone can see that they are the same.

\- This is my Christmas present for you two. Take on what you hid for more than 2 years. Merry Christmas. - And after saying that, he returns to sit next to his boyfriend.

Everyone remains silent.

I get up and head towards the bedroom. When I get back, everyone stays in the same place. Aaron still holds the gift box that I gave - which, incidentally, is a personalized vibrator made in a store that uses the buyers body as a mold (too embarrassing to have done it, more so everyone knows that I did) - and the shirt that his brother gave him.

I hand him the box that he should open in front of everyone. I smile at him, lest he be afraid of another surprise like the previous one.

When he rips open the package and opens the box, he finds a smaller box inside. In that box is a ring. On the outside, he's written Minyard, and on the inside it's written Day.

\- Now that everyone knows, I can explain this gift properly - I start, watching him hold the ring. Aaron then turns his attention to me. I take the chain I'm wearing out of my shirt. It has a ring similar to the one Aaron holds in his hands. - You have my name written on that ring, because I want to be with you always, even while we are in different cities and going weeks without seeing each other. I am always with you, because I love you.

Aaron then nods in agreement and removes the chain he always wears from his neck. I knew he would think about wearing the ring on the chain, so I put mine on a chain.

I reach out to help him close the chain and when I finish, I kiss his neck.

I forget, for a moment, that we are not alone. But after everyone's humiliation saw the personalized vibrator, a kiss on my boyfriend is no big deal.

\- Look at the gift I gave you. There's something hidden in it - Aaron says quietly, before I go back to where I was sitting.

I pick up the plush on my lap and carefully analyze it. I notice that there is a small “pocket” in it. Aaron is watching me and smiles, encouraging me. I take out what's inside the pocket. It's a key.

I look at him without understanding and he just shrugs. I have a copy of the key to the apartment he lives in, so it doesn't make much sense for me to be getting another one.

All the other foxes have already gone back to side conversations, so no one is paying any more attention to us.

Aaron takes the phone from his pants pocket and types something. Soon after, my cell phone vibrates, informing me of a new message. It is an image, of a room. Then there is a short text: My new room, in an apartment closest to you. The key is for you to go there whenever you want. Please. Go a lot.

I smile at Aaron, who puts the phone back in his pocket.

\- Andrew - Aaron gets his brother's attention. - Can I know about that phrase on my shirt?

Andrew looks at Neil, who laughs softly.

\- We have a little story to talk about. - Neil starts. - It all started with a night at Edens, just before Kevin graduated. Andrew and I were talking about me being able to read lips and he bet with me. You two were sitting at our table, and we had both gone to the bar to get more drinks. While we waited, Andrew pointed at you and said something like "I bet Aaron is saying Kevin is an idiot". So, we bet that if it were that, I would have to go at least 2 weeks without running in the morning and stay up sleeping with Andrew until later. But if I won, I would want a kiss.

\- And it turns out, as soon as Neil noticed you, he looked at me in surprise and said: in fact, Aaron just said "I'm horny for you". - Andrew makes a face at his brother. - And with that I lost a bet and had to kiss in front of a lot of people.

\- And you didn't see what happened right after Aaron told me here? - I question.

Andrew and Neil shake their heads.

I laugh and look at Aaron.

\- He kissed me. - Aaron shrugs.

Hours later, all too tired from the night we had, find a place to sleep comfortably. Aaron and I lay in the same bed, together and without secrets for the first time. Hugging my boyfriend's warm body, I smell his perfume as I bring my face close to his neck.

I wanted everyone to know so much that even if it wasn't the way we had planned it, I couldn't be happy.

Aaron is silent for a long time, sleeping, I imagine. I don't know if I am able to sleep after so many things that have happened in the past few hours.

However, contrary to what I imagined, Aaron is awake. He moves against my body, kisses my shoulder.

\- I want you to move in with me. - Your voice is just a whisper, the same way I heard it so many times during the time we are together.

\- I want too.

This is what I want. Sharing a bed with him. Not being weeks without being able to see him and having only hours or a few days whenever we meet.

I don't want to miss him anymore.

But being a single afternoon without Aaron is enough to make me miss him.

I think the name of that is being in love.


End file.
